Tiger’s Twisting Moral Tale

Convivium, 7 April 2017

Editor in Chief, Father Raymond J. de Souza reflects on the Masters and the legacy of Tiger Woods.

The big news this week at the Masters is that the world’s top-ranked golfer, Dustin Johnson, had to withdraw before play even began Thursday. He injured his back after falling down the stairs on Wednesday. The other news is that due to chronic back injuries Tiger Woods is not playing this year at Augusta, a tournament he won four times.

After nearly 18 months recuperating from surgeries, Woods returned to golf in January of this year, but his back did not cooperate. Announcing that he wouldn’t play in the world’s premier golf tournament, Woods said that there was no schedule for his return.

It feels like the end. Tiger may return to play again, but even before his injuries he had long ceased being a threat. Golf, which for more than a decade beginning in the late 1990s seemed to be all-Tiger all-the-time, has moved on. The death last fall of Arnold Palmer showed that no man is bigger than the game itself, but also a reminder that the legendary status that Palmer achieved, a sort of custodian of all that is best in golf, is something that Tiger will never achieve, despite being a better golfer.